# Handwritten Isolated Bangla Compound Character Recognition: a new benchmark using a novel deep learning approach

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.00671 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.00671/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 2 Feb 2018.

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [HCR-Net: A deep learning based script independent handwritten character recognition network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.06663/) (2021)
- [BanglaNet: Bangla Handwritten Character Recognition using Ensembling of Convolutional Neural Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.08035/) (2024)
- [Understanding Character Recognition using Visual Explanations Derived from the Human Visual System and Deep Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.04558/) (2021)
- [Bengali Handwritten Grapheme Classification: Deep Learning Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.08249/) (2021)
- [Open Vocabulary Word Recognition From Transcribed Bangla Texts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.01134/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In this work, a novel deep learning technique for the recognition of handwritten Bangla isolated compound character is presented and a new benchmark of recognition accuracy on the CMATERdb 3.1.3.3 dataset is reported. Greedy layer wise training of Deep Neural Network has helped to make significant strides in various pattern recognition problems. We employ layerwise training to Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNN) in a supervised fashion and augment the training process with the RMSProp algorithm to achieve faster convergence. We compare results with those obtained from standard shallow learning methods with predefined features, as well as standard DCNNs. Supervised layerwise trained DCNNs are found to outperform standard shallow learning models such as Support Vector Machines as well as regular DCNNs of similar architecture by achieving error rate of 9.67% thereby setting a new benchmark on the CMATERdb 3.1.3.3 with recognition accuracy of 90.33%, representing an improvement of nearly 10%.